1999 SEASON GETS A LATE START: Rainstorms forced the No. 4-ranked California women's tennis team to cancel its first three dual matches of the '99 season last week. Cal's dual match season opener versus Fresno State has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 1:30 p.m. The Bears then host Washington on Friday, Jan. 29 at 1:30 p.m. and Washington State the next day at noon. Oregon will challenge Cal on Monday, Feb. 1 at 1:30 p.m. in the Bears fourth straight home match before two weeks away from Hellman.

CAL IN THE RANKINGS: The team enters the 1999 dual match season with a No. 4 national ranking. The Golden Bears, who made their 16th NCAA Tournament appearance last spring, ended the 1998 season ranked No. 6 with an 18-6 dual match record.

BEARS HAVE MOST INDIVIDUALS RANKED: Individually, Cal has more players ranked among the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's collegiate Top 100, eight, than any team in the nation. Cal's highest ranked player is No. 20 Francesca La'O. Also among the ITA's Top 50 are 1998 ITA Northwest Regional singles champ Anita Kurimay (31) and Amy Jensen (T39). However, Cal's top singles player is 1998 All-American Amanda Augustus, who opened the fall with a preseason No. 4 ITA singles ranking, but slipped to No. 32 after a slow start in the fall. Cal also has four doubles tandems currently ranked on the ITA charts: No. 6 Augustus/Jensen; No. 12 Curran/Kurimay; No. 34 Borgersen/Lee; and No. 43 La'O/Mayes.

DEEP AND EXPERIENCED: Cal returns all but one starter and nine of 10 players for the 1999 season. The Bears only loss was current No. 37-ranked Esther Knox, who transferred to Georgia over the summer. However, Cal did pick up a gem of a replacement when Pepperdine-transfer Karoline Borgersen decided to enroll at Cal. In all, Cal has three seniors, four juniors, and three sophomores (two of which are academically juniors).

HONOR ROLL: Among Cal's 10-player roster, the Bears boast three singles All-Americans and four doubles All-Americans. Amanda Augustus earned her first singles All-America honor last season and is a three-time doubles All-American. A 1997 singles All-American, Amy Jensen turned the trick on the doubles side last season when she teamed with Augustus to win the 1998 NCAA doubles crown. Francesca La'O earned singles All-America accolades in 1997 and doubles honors with Augustus in '96. Claire Curran was a doubles All-American as a freshman in 1997, also with Augustus.

MOVTIVATED FOR '99: Despite posting an 18-6 dual match record and finishing with a No. 6 national ranking, the 1998 season still left a bitter taste in the mouths of many Cal players. With one of the nation's most talented tennis teams, Cal entered the '98 campaign hoping to at least reach the NCAA Team final. However, the Bears were upset, 5-4, by William & Mary in the Round of 16. It was only the 2nd time Cal had failed to at least reach the NCAA quarterfinals since 1984 (Cal fell in the regional final in 1996).

DEFENDING NCAA DOUBLES CHAMPS: Cal boasts one of the nation's best collegiate doubles tandems in Amanda Augustus and Amy Jensen. Last year, the pair became the first unseeded doubles duo to capture the NCAA Championship, defeating then-No.1 Dawn Buth and Stephanie Nickitas of Florida in the final. The twosome opened the 1998-99 campaign with a preseason No. 2 national ranking, but have since slipped to No. 6. Augustus and Jensen also played in last year's U.S. Open Main Draw, falling to Mary Joe Fernandez and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 6-2, 6-2 in the first round.

AUGUSTUS/JENSEN CAPTURE TWO TITLES: Amanda Augustus and Amy Jensen won their second tournament title of the season Jan. 17 with a victory in the doubles final of the National Collegiate Tennis Classic in Sherman Oaks, Calif. During the fall, the two won four straight matches to capture the 1998 ITA Northwest Regional title at Stanford. The victories improved the tandem's record to 10-1 on the year.

THE COACHES: In her 21st season as the Bears head coach, Jan Brogan's dual match record of 376-153 (.711) makes her the most successful coach in Cal history. Assistant coach Kathy Toon begins her ninth season with the Bears, and Melissa Gurney starts her Cal coaching career as a volunteer assistant.